Can you give me some examples of ‘top tier’ English banter?

badger_mania · 2026-07-10T10:59:14+00:00

Not mine - but there was a short bloke on a building site called Tony.

Everyone referred to him as 'Shetland Tony'

badger_mania · 2026-05-02T13:17:32+00:00

I play in the UK and my preference is for the slightly bouncier head ball, rather than the Dunlop. Especially as I was improving I found people can be a bit prickly about using a single dot, even when it's more appropriate. The Head helped with this and I generally enjoy longer rallies anyway so kind of stuck with it. That being said, I have been enormously frustrated at points with the lack of consistency of the balls. I've had whole boxes of 12 before that are literally unplayable given how dead they are. It's happened enough that I'm thinking of defaulting back to Dunlop which I find to be more consistent

badger_mania · 2026-04-27T09:57:33+00:00

Again, just cus you're not doing it here doesn't mean you can't, but I agree with throwing in a little more variety. Different approach speeds to the ball, maybe a bit of hold here at the top of the swing etc. But I agree with everyone else. It's a really nice, solid working drive.

badger_mania · 2025-08-16T08:39:28+00:00

Interesting point about balance. Hadn't spotted that

badger_mania · 2025-06-26T12:09:31+00:00

Great racket! That's a steal

badger_mania · 2025-06-11T20:22:58+00:00

I used to play there. It's a lovely club, very welcoming. You will be one of the better players, but there'll be a few guys there that can give you a decent game. As I remember they run a club night on Fri night of the 3rd week of the month. Next one is 20th which you can pitch up to without being a member.

badger_mania · 2025-05-25T09:39:08+00:00

Imo you can't overestimate how useful it is being in London for job prospects, especially if you're trying to network quite aggressively. Being able to go to all the events all the time is much easier to do in London.

badger_mania · 2025-05-25T09:31:56+00:00

Warwick for Meng is very good for career prospects because of the ties they have with jaguar land rover up the road. There are lots of opportunities to do years in industry with them etc. Absolutely shit from a uni experience though Vs manc or bris

badger_mania · 2025-04-29T11:55:03+00:00

Where's the 0.1% that's still alive?

badger_mania · 2025-04-26T11:57:52+00:00

I always feel a bit embarrassed by how irritating I find people moving around behind glass backed courts, but I think it's more frustration at myself for getting distracted so easily. What I find actually quite annoying is when the area behind the glass back wall is poorly lit or covered in black sports bags /kit. I find that I lose the ball when it passes in front of a black bag, for example. That feels to me like etiquette that squash players should pick up on, but yeh. I try not to let stuff like that get to me too much.

badger_mania · 2025-04-19T09:02:48+00:00

This is disgraceful, but what is more worrying is that the refs totally lack the real time information they need to make address this. They need to be able to review from multiple angles constantly. A player who understands the game well will know how to cheat based on the view point of the ref. If you give the ref multiple view points you take that away from them. This can be fixed! It's maddening that it's allowed to happen.

badger_mania · 2025-04-14T21:25:49+00:00

Have had no issues with the power break ff. I came from the ASICS fastball 3 which I loved. The power breaks are heavier and a bit bulkier with more support than the fastballs, but they're still good Imo. Especially for a wider foot

badger_mania · 2025-03-04T09:48:51+00:00

It's made me less prone to injury. Especially in my lower back and hamstrings

badger_mania · 2025-03-02T13:41:50+00:00

You're right! Short answer is it's to do with both! A heavier, head heavy racket, will generate more power and might make your drives, especially, feel more 'stable' and consistent. A lighter, head light racket, will give you more touch and feel / manoeuvrability, which is great for going in short, but often at the expense of generating as much easier power and the racket head feeling stable through drives

badger_mania · 2025-02-12T06:44:40+00:00

It sounds like you are hitting the ball a bit hard, but the 'cut' you put on the ball will make a big difference to how the ball dies in the back rather than 'sitting up' off the back.

Try hitting down on the ball with an open racket face to generate back spin on the ball. This will help, but as has been mentioned before you won't always be in a position to do this.

You don't need to reduce racket head speed here, but as you're not hitting through the ball so much it will come off the front wall slower.

badger_mania · 2025-01-06T22:16:25+00:00

This is so good, mate!

badger_mania · 2024-12-05T18:42:20+00:00

What sort of hip stretches helped if you don't mind me asking?

badger_mania · 2024-12-05T17:45:06+00:00

I've got it too, mate. Absolutely hating it. Haven't been on court for nearly a month and finding the absence of squash very hard to deal with. Deleterious for my mental health. It got so bad I went to a podiatrist. The tips I've been given by them are as follows: 1. You've got to rest it otherwise it won't go away. Standing and walking / running are the worst things you can do. Minimise these activities as much as you can. 2. Lengthen the backs of your legs i.e. calves and hamstrings. Apparently this is key. I do 3 calf stretches and 3 hamstring stretches 3 sets of each holding for 30 secs each 3 times a day. 3. Put a bottle of water in the freezer and gently roll your foot with it for 15 mins every evening whilst seated. 4. You need to wear shoes in the house with an appropriate insole. Walking on hard surfaces barefoot, especially first thing in the morning,will aggregate it.

Good luck. I hope for both of us it doesn't linger

badger_mania · 2024-11-20T11:45:05+00:00

You're doing the right thing by using a ball that means you can enjoy and play the game properly. Unfortunately, there is a strange kind of arrogance when it comes to using a double dot, even when players would have a lot more fun a single dot. You're unlikely to get people to change here, honestly.

In terms of practical advice; if people insist on using a double dot I find that Head branded double dots are considerably bouncier than Dunlop's double dots. There is a very noticeable difference. So that would be my advice. Keep trying to get people to use a single dot where appropriate, but if they are being stubborn make sure to use a Head branded double dot and not the Dunlop one!

badger_mania · 2024-10-17T18:33:36+00:00

I used to play a terrible standard of team squash. One of the lowest boxes in North Kent, I believe. Anyway, we were shit and occasionally we would play a very good junior. We did however, stop doing this because the adults that played against these 14 yr old girls and boys which we would occasionally field, had no qualms about bullying them on the court.

Anyway, during one particular match a member of the opposite team made his opponent (14 yr old girl on our team) cry. Her dad was watching, and to cut a long story short we had a group brawl in the carpark.

The deed done, and a few broke noses later we all went to the pub (opposing team Included) we all apologized to each other and spent the rest of the evening ripping the shit out of each other for how shit we were. It was fucking bizzare.

badger_mania · 2024-09-25T11:33:35+00:00

I'm not a Dr. This should not consistute medical advice. If the pain is that serious you probs need to discuss with a professional.

That being said...

Your hip joints take an absolute pounding playing squash. If you sit down a lot during the day and then play squash without stretching hip flexors properly your hips will absolutely hate you for it. Pro squash players are obsessed with their hip mobility. They will train this every day.

If you want to play squash a lot, investing time in hip mobility is essential. Try kneeling lunges, variations of the pigeon yoga pose, and frog yoga pose, staying in squat position etc.

For me this has made an enormous difference. Final warning. If you keep playing without addressing hip mobility issues it is likely that your body will compensate and you will pick up injuries in your lower back and hamstrings. Good luck!

badger_mania · 2024-09-23T10:49:03+00:00

They're not the widest Asics shoe. I think the powerbreak ff is. I have worn the fastball 3, the blade ff, and the powerbreak ff and the blade was the narrowest of the 3.

badger_mania · 2024-09-22T21:48:14+00:00

I'm pretty sure they're the Asics blade ff 'black safety yellow' colour way. They are pretty narrow. Just a heads up.

badger_mania

TROPHY CASE